


Scarlet Falcon

by siren_of_the_ocean



Series: Tim Drake AU's [10]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Red Robin (Comics), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Barry Allen is The Flash, Dimension Travel, Gen, Parent Barry Allen, Protective Barry Allen, Salty Tim Drake, Tim Drake Deserves Better, Tim Drake Gets a Hug, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake gets better, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26343637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siren_of_the_ocean/pseuds/siren_of_the_ocean
Summary: When an alternate Tim Drake and an alternate Barry allen end up in the main DC universe, it becomes clear how badly they've done with their Tim Drake.Especially since the alternate Tim is no longer a bat, now called Falcon instead, a family member to the Flash.OrTim Drake gets adopted by the Flash during Red Robin.
Relationships: Barry Allen & Tim Drake, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: Tim Drake AU's [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1853161
Comments: 24
Kudos: 447





	Scarlet Falcon

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I am still upset about this. Yes, I will take my anger out on the fictional characters that caused it.

It was never planned. No-one expected to be sent to an alternate universe by some random magician that's gone off the rails. Except, apparently these guys. 

"Yes. For the fifth time, we confronted the insane magician so that he could send us to another universe. We planned it" Alternate Flash says, his head down in his palms. 

The hero at his side just looks down at Flash's bent head before looking back up to face the justice league. "Now. Could we please complete our mission objectives?" he asks, speaking for the first time and voice surprisingly familiar. 

While Alternate Flash looks exactly the same as this universe's counterpart, nobody recognizes the hero at his side. The red leather shirt looks somewhat familiar, especially with the black armoured pants. But the goggles and other features don't seem to match them. 

The other hero also doesn't seem to be a speedster, moving at a normal pace and not occasionally slipping into, what the non-speedsters nicknamed "speed-speak". His suit also doesn't have the same features that you'd expect from a speedster. 

"You never explained your mission objectives" Batman says, voice chilling to the spines but the alternate hero looks unaffected. "We need a sample of the lazarus waters. In our universe, they were destroyed but the lazarus waters seem to be seeping back. We want to know why" Alternate Flash explains. 

Looking over his counterpart, Barry vanishes for a moment before returning with arms full of snacks and junk food. "I thought you might be hungry" Barry explains, trying to stop a fight from brewing, even as his alternate removes his mask to dig into the array of food now splayed out around him. 

The other hero moves closer to sit next to Alternate Flash but seems hesitant to unmask. While Alternate Flash can eat while in costume, this hero has a mask design that covers the area from his chin to just below his forehead. Much like Red Hood's previous mask, Barry thinks. 

"Aw come on, kiddo. You've gotta be just as starving as I am. Besides, no-one here's gonna do anything" Alternate Flash says, seemingly reassuring the other, holding eye contact with certain members of the league as he says it. Making a point. It loosens the hero's shoulders a bit before he reaches back to unlatch the mask. 

When the mask slides off, so do the goggles, revealing blue eyes, slim features and pale skin. The face of Tim Drake. Red Robin. 

As everyone stares, Tim's shoulders draw together in a show of discomfort before he forcibly straightens them. A glare from his alternate reminds Barry not to stare, causing him to turn his eyes away from the kid. 

"You're a Flash?" Everyone can hear the slight incredulity in Batman's question, even Hal staying silent in shock as The Batman shows an emotion. It causes Tim to look up from his mask, meeting Batman's eyes for exactly one second before looking away "No. I just work with them". 

The room is silent then, only the Flashes seeing Batman subtly press a button, presumably to summon Red Robin. Maybe the entire Bat-clan even. By Tim's glance at Flash though, he knows just as well, having worked with him for years. 

"We're here for a reason. You know that. So, we'll just complete our objective and get out of your hair" Tim says, almost sounding panicked. It catches Batman's attention right away. Leading to a stare off between the two, which neither is planning to lose. Batman looking at this version of his son that's much more open and affectionate. 

"Red Robin will assist you in locating the lazarus pits -" Batman starts, only to be interrupted by Flash's alternate. "We know where the lazarus pits are. We don't need assistance". At that, Batman breaks his staring contest with Tim, only to turn to Alternate Flash, raising an admonishing eyebrow. 

"He's right. We do not require assistance. We'll be out of your hair now" Tim says, expression serious but otherwise unreadable, unaffected by the stare down with the Bat. Alternate Flash nods along with him, showing his agreement and thus his disagreement with Bats' assistance. 

Tim turns to leave, reaching to clasp his mask on again but is stopped by Flash "No need. They know who you are and we'll be leaving soon anyway". At that, Tim drops the mask back onto a table, looking at Flash for guidance. 

The dynamic is strange, or at least it seems strange to the observers. Tim doesn't seem to be following Flash but is looking to him for guidance. Meanwhile, Flash looks at Tim like he both wants to wrap him in bubble wrap and take him along for whatever stunt he has in mind. Partners or equals rather than hero and sidekick. 

"We're leaving" Flash states, as he finishes up the last of the food Barry brought, stuffing some of it into the compartments built to keep stored food for the speedsters. Tim stands immediately, anticipating Flash's next move as he picks Tim up, at speed and rushes away, faster than anyone can think to intervene.

They can hear the Zeta tubes announcement of "Flash - 04" as they leave, probably speeding away from the access point as soon as they land. A second or 2 of silence later, they can hear the calls of "Nightwing B01", "Red Hood B13" and "Red Robin B20". 

Nightwing speeds into the room, dodging people as he goes, leaving chaos and destruction in his wake. Red hood sighs behind him, waving at Wonder Woman. Red Robin however, looks like he's running on no sleep and 20 cups of coffee made with Red Bull. 

The juxtaposition between Red Robin and the still unnamed hero seems so clear then. Looking at them, Tim had been healthier, his body still lean but less skinny, his skin more tan and the bags under his eyes almost nonexistent. 

Nobody seems to notice though, except for Barry himself. 

It makes him frown, lip caught between his teeth as he thinks. Batman explains the situation to the kids, immediately drawing up a list of lazarus pits and League of assassins hideouts. Red Hood provides some others but Red Robin stops it all, saying that there would only be one pit he would want the water from, considering circumstances. Some place named "Nanda Parbat". 

The Bats, together with Superman, plan a whole rescue operation. To find and save the Alternate Flash and Tim. 

They aren't needed after all. 

When a gust of wind displaces all of the paper they were planning on, the people in the room turn to Barry for an explanation. The find the explanation soon enough, sitting on a couch with an Alternate Tim. 

Tim is again wearing the mask, gauntlets pulled over his hands. In fact, the design looks more like a Red Hood design than anything a speedster would wear. 

The red tunic is reminiscent of the one Robin wears, the armoured black pants almost the same. The gauntlets seem more Azrael style, with accents of Red and yellow. The only thing that makes it seem strange for all of the bat-clothing is the mask and the shoes. 

The boots are an almost complete mirror of Flash's, yellow material stretching up to the swell of his calf. The design is sleeker than the Bats prefer, not as bulky. They were made for speed and agility, not strength. The mask may look like Red Hood's previous one at first glance, the almost full face (From chin to forehead) mask black in colour with red accents. That is, until you see the darker yellow blended into the colour palette around his jaw and ears. 

Like lightning bolts. 

"We got what we wanted. No need to send a rescue party. Now we're just waiting for the exit portal. Shouldn't be long" Flash sayssays, removing his mask as Tim sneaks a chocolate bar from Flash's snack stash. 

Red Hood stares for a bit, waiting for the green in his eyes to fade away, the pit having taken advantage of the swell of initial anger at the masks similarity to his own. He pushes it down firmly, watching this version of Tim with hawk eyes. 

Barry, after a minute or two decides to break the building tension "So. What's your name?" he asks Tim. Both Tim and Flash give him the same unimpressed stare, showing how much time they've spent together. "Your hero name" Barry clarifies at the stare, pushing through the awkwardness with a bull headedness that's at least gotten him somewhere. 

Tim takes a second to answer, meeting his alternate's eyes before he clears his throat "Falcon" he eventually answers. Flash gives him a smile at that, hand twitching at his side like he wants to pat the kid on the head. 

"Falcon? Keeping it with the bird theme?" Red Hood asks as he drops down on the couch opposite to the multiverse visitors with a loud thump and a flare of dust. Falcon's eyes fixed on him as he moves "Yeah. Keep reminding people of where I started, you know. Plus a penegrine falcon is the fastest bird on earth" he answers with a smile. 

He seems very nonchalant about being in the same room as Hood and seems to be almost friendly but then Hood and Red have been patrolling together for a while now. They seem to be getting along at the very least, Barry notes with concern, remembering the time Hood had tried to kill a small teenaged Tim Drake. 

"Where you started? I thought you were a Flash? Not a Bat?" Nightwing asks, interrupting Barry's thought process completely. In the second that Tim hears Nightwing's voice, Barry can see Tim tense all at once. All the nonchalance that he had with Hood leaving. "I was a Bat. For a while" he says, voice carrying a tenor of stress. 

Alternate Flash seems to pick up on it, laying a hand on Tim's shoulder and ignoring the flinch it earns him, giving Tim a soft look. "You don't have to tell them anything. We can leave and go to another place, ask my alternate to tell us when the portal opens" Flash assures Tim, voice low but with a room full of people with superhearing, that means nothing. 

Barry can see Bats tense at the assurance, unsure of what caused Tim's distress. Only Hood seems to actually be relaxed, even Red Robin tensing and glancing around anxiously, as if waiting for an attack. 

Neither of the 2 on the couch seem to hear, see or feel the tension build or they simply do not care. Tim looking at Flash before he smiles, saying "I know" with the weight of history in his tone. The way most people speak to their parents or other loved ones. 

The Flash smiles back at him, thumping his back in solidarity as he stares down Batman, who was obviously opening his mouth to say something. Not heeding Flash's glare, Batman asks "If you were a Robin, why are you now a part of the Flash family?". 

This causes Tim to tense again, this time in anger rather than stress. Barry can see Red Robin frantically signaling for his alternate to stop and shut up but Tim only turns his glare at him. 

"Why?" Tim asks with a voice like venom "Why would I leave the Batfamily and the name Red Robin? Are you seriously asking me that?" he demands. Turning to Red Robin, he then goes on to ask him "Did you tell them nothing? Didn't you even, I don't know tell them what suffering they caused?". 

Red Robin's eyes widen, going tense but not in shock. Going still like prey caught in the jaws of a predator. Caught but with no viable way to escape. Tim can see the calculations running through his counterpart's mind, can see the steely going in his eyes. 

Nightwing takes a physical step back at the venom in Tim's voice. Batman at his side staying impassive but for a faint grunt, attracting Tim's ire as he spins on them "You!" he points to Nightwing "called me insane. You recommended Arkham of all places!". 

Tim then continues to lay out the harm that the people in the room have done to him, especially when he was looking for Bruce. Laying down exactly what they did and how it was unacceptable. How it would have hurt anyone, let alone someone grieving 2 friends and a father. 

"Superman refused to listen to me. Wonder Woman herself gave me some kind of placation before proceeding to do nothing! Martian Manhunter scanned my mind and yet, no-one would believe me! No!"

At this point, Tim is the centre of attention, having now yelled at the core 3 of the Justice league. Red Robin is in a corner, trying to hide away while he can, while his alternate spills all of his angriest bits and pieces. The parts he's tried to hide. The damaged parts. 

"I left to go find Batman. On my own. I created Red Robin to destroy, in a flaming ball if needed. I made Red Robin to save Batman and that alone. It's an identity born from blood and pain and suffering. The fact that you're still wearing it makes me wonder about your state of mind" Tim says, this statement aimed at Red Robin, who flinches at the truth in his words. 

Alternate Flash looks on in, concern flooding his maskless features while his eyes seem to age. He doesn't intervene, doesn't stop Tim, doesn't defend himself or the league. He simply sits and listens to a speech he's heard bits and pieces of for years now. 

"And guess what. I was alone for months before anyone came looking for me. Three months, I wandered the globe, looking for the proof that you needed. Three months before Flash found me" 

"And you know what he said, when he did? That the league was out of line. After all, Superman had come back from the dead. So did Robins number 2, 4 and 5. Bart was dead and so was Kon. And yet, you refused to believe me" 

The league glances at Flash, trying to understand why a child is lecturing them but they find no sympathy. Instead they find a set jaw and hard eyes. Not quite condemning but definitely not friendly. 

"And now you ask me. Why?!" By the end of his speech, Tim is gasping for breath, eyes hard and expression livid. In a breath, he grabs hold of Red's arm and drags him out of the room, muttering "I know my self-worth. And both you and I are worth more than this". 

The room is left in silence as Tim drags Red out, interrupted only by Flash's loud sigh after they leave. 

"You really messed that one up, didn't you?" he asks. Leaning hack on the sofa, he runs his fingers through his hair. "Now I know that things may have played out a little differently in your universe. But seeing as Red Robin does in fact exist here, I'm assuming things didn't play out all too differently". 

Hood is the first one to answer, saying "Yeah the story doesn't seem all that different. Everyone thinking he's insane. Him going off on his own. Coming back with Bruce in tow. Sounds about right". 

Barry is the one to bring up the single difference, saying quietly "But I didn't go looking for him". Alternate Flash shares a look with him before Barry explains "I didn't go looking for him. Didn't even know he was gone. I came back to the league after something with Thawne and Batman was already back". 

His alternate nods, looking down at his hands "I only knew because of a coincidence. I was following up on leads in an area Tim just so happened to be. We teamed up to take down Thawne. He explained the tense situation between him and the other heroes. I stuck around to make sure the kid didn't die". He looks solemn, like that time of his life drained on him. 

Eyeing the doorway the two Tims left out of, he smiles, expression changing completely "But hey. I found the kid. And he was so sad and depressed. I couldn't just leave him so I stuck around. Guess he grew on me". He then stands and leaves, presumably to go and find the Tims. 

"He's right you know. You left a kid to go on a dangerous mission alone. Without any support, physical or mental. Tim doesn't talk much about the time he was gone but I can infer that it was bad. I know for a fact that the league was involved in some way" Hood explains from his place on the couch. His head tilted back unnaturally to look at them over the back of it, as he meets Batman and Superman's eyes respectively. 

He leaves Wonder Woman out of it, biased as he is. But she can feel the statement cut her like a knife. She had, hadn't she? Condemned a child to a dangerous mission without support or allies? And then continued to condemn him after he left, hearing the league members murmur about the crazy Robin, yet she turned a blind eye. 

She can see the truth cutting down to Clark's core as well, as he stares after the alternate version of his friend. A friend that now looks at him like a stranger. "We were out of line" Superman admits, voice resounding in the room's silence. 

"You sure were. And if you'd tried to apologize, Tim would have forgiven you. Hell, he still might" Hood says, staring at the doorway with wistful eyes. That's all Nightwing can take apparently, tensing before he speaks "Yeah. Fine. We were out of line. But you tried to kill him and now you're all chummy". 

It's a statement with the undercurrent of interrogation. No questions but a demand of an answer. Hood knows it just as well as all of the others, answering "I apologized and I meant it, DickWing. Birdy forgave me months ago. Barely even triggers my pit rage these days". 

The room is silent after that, not able to comprehend that Tim will forgive Hood for trying to murder him but seems incapable of forgiving Superman and most of the league. The alternate, at least. Their version never even brought it up, simply acting as a mindless soldier, following their orders without any input or reaction. And comparing the 2, they aren't sure which is worse. 

Hood stays quiet, having made his point, head still leaning against the back of the couch. He doesn't meet anyone's eyes, avoiding Dick's eyes in particular when Dick opens his mouth. When Nightwing closes his mouth, teeth clicking, he looks hurt or affronted. 

"You have to think about this. I mean this Tim hasn't asked for coffee once. Not a single time. I haven't seen him have one energy drink. What I have seen him do is eat. The complete opposite of our Tim that barely eats, barely sleeps, has a severe caffeine addiction and somehow looks close to death at the age of 18" Jason says, eyes still fixed on the doorway, as if checking that Tim isn't coming back yet. 

Barry remembers his previous thoughts, that this Tim looks much healthier than theirs. Maybe more stable mentally, too. The way Tim leaned into Alternate Flash's hand, like a touck starved child giving in to whims. The way Red's eyes turned wistful when that happened. The way that Flash describes Tim's year away as Tim being borderline suicidal. 

Thinking back, Barry can think of at least one instance that he knows of. At least one instance where Tim threw himself into a situation he knew he wouldn't survive. And some people may not call that suicide but Barry isn't sure what else it is. 

He remembers the funeral they held for Red Robin, having been killed by drones. He remembers Red coming back a few months later, much jumpier and more paranoid but his first instinct had been to hug his family. He never thought about it before but he remembers te way Tim leaned into those hugs, looking blissful. Like he hadn't had a hug before. 

It all seems to fit into a puzzle Barry doesn't want to see. Slowly piecing itself together in front of his eyes despite him trying to look away. The reference to suicidal thoughts, the way Tim leans into any contact with Flash, the way Tim is angry and outspoken and upfront with his emotions. All the things that their Tim isn't. But. Maybe he is. Maybe he's just hiding himself away when with the Justice league or hell, maybe even the Bats too. Maybe he does feel all these things but no-one had made him comfortable enough to express them. 

As he thinks, a portal opens up in the room, Barry blinking before racing to his counterpart, informing them of the portal. 

He finds Flash, Tim and Red spread out on a couch. Red laying across both of the others, with Red outright holding him. Just more evidence of his touch starvation. 

Tim gives Barry a tired smile, poking his counterpart before he stands. There seems to be some kind of communication between them, in that moment. Before Tim starts going for the doorway, leaving Red on the couch, thoughtful. 

Flash nudges Barry once before dragging him away into the hall. There, he stops, looking at Barry meaningfully. The smile on his lips and the spark in his eyes don't seem to retract from the seriousness of the situation, rather aiding them as Flash speaks. 

"He's a good kid, you know. And I think you still have a chance where the others don't. So go for it. Don't wait. Don't hesitate. Cause it really is worth it" 

And then he speeds off, leaving Barry alone in the hallway, a traumatized child in the room behind him. Does he even need to think about that? No. 

Barry turns, walking right back into the room and falling down next to Tim with an "Oof". 

There would be time for deep and meaningful discussions. Later. Right now, Barry is content to lay there next to Tim, laying an arm over his chest and relishing in the way it causes Tim to relax.


End file.
